Sheffield thug wins cut in prison term

A thug who terrorised his ex-girlfriend and her mum by smashing his way into their Sheffield home has had his sentence cut.

Peter Gough, aged 26, caused ‘undoubted psychological harm’ when he forced his way into the woman’s home, as she fled with their 15-month-old baby.

Gough, of no fixed address, was jailed for two-and-half-years at Sheffield Crown Court in November after admitting breach of a restraining order, common assault and criminal damage, with Mr Recorder Toby Wynn saying only such a ‘significant sentence’ would bring home to Gough the ‘appalling consequences’ of such behaviour for his son.

However, he appealed against the sentence’s length, with his lawyers arguing it failed to credit him for his guilty pleas and exceeded sentence guidelines.

And three judges at London’s Appeal Court agreed – and cut it to 18 months.

Mr Justice King said Gough was handed the restraining order, as well as a 16-week jail term, in January 2013, after he admitted punching his ex-girlfriend during their ‘turbulent and violent’ relationship.

However, he later went to her flat and, when no-one let him in, smashed a bathroom window and climbed a drainpipe, before forcing his way in.

Mr Justice King said it was “accepted there was significant psychological harm to the victim and the experience suffered by the grandmother must have been very frightening”.

However, the judge, sitting with Lord Justice Davis and Judge Stephen Kramer QC, said: “It cannot be said there was significant physical harm.”